| reply to KirkyInCT
Re: LED lightbulbs said by KirkyInCT:I've noticed a pretty significant decrease in the electricity bill in the past year... Not saying it's all attributed to the LED bulbs, but I do think a lot of it was (and also awareness). Last time I totalled it, we swapped 1200 watts worth of bulbs for about 200 watts worth of LEDs. The difference, if they were all switched ON, is a 1000watt heater! Maybe that's OK in the wintertime, but in summer it adds to the air conditioning load i.e. incandescent lamps' wattage translates directly to heat, which your A/C system works to remove.
I have a screensaver on my desktop right now showing NYC at dusk, with all the commercial buildings' lights on. Not many people realize that the second-greatest heat generator in a commercial office building (the first being the occupants themselves) is the lighting system. Well OK nowadays offices have lotsa computers also, but still...lights are a tremendous source of heat!
Doesn't apply as critically at home, but is something to keep in mind. |
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 AVDRespice, Adspice, ProspicePremium
join:2003-02-06
Onion, NJ
kudos:1 | said by laserfan:I have a screensaver on my desktop right now showing NYC at dusk, with all the commercial buildings' lights on. Not many people realize that the second-greatest heat generator in a commercial office building (the first being the occupants themselves) is the lighting system. Well OK nowadays offices have lotsa computers also, but still...lights are a tremendous source of heat!
the biggest heat source in a commercial building are the windows
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--Standard disclaimers apply.-- |
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 SparkChaserPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 | said by AVD:the biggest heat source in a commercial building are the windows At night? |
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| reply to mob
So when are we going to ban CFL and unban incandescent? There are still places where incandescent is the best choice.
Example: A switch that is off 99% of the time will see no savings switching to LED. |
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| said by severach:... There are still places where incandescent is the best choice.
Don't forget easy-bake ovens! 
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Splat |
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| reply to SparkChaser
said by SparkChaser:said by AVD:the biggest heat source in a commercial building are the windows At night? By the same token, the people at night? |
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scross
join:2002-09-13
Cordova, TN | reply to severach
said by severach:So when are we going to ban CFL and unban incandescent? There are still places where incandescent is the best choice.
IIRC, incandescents were never actually banned, folks, they just have to be made more efficient - more light, less heat. There have always been ways to do this (special coatings, different materials, etc) but these add to the cost of the bulb and probably effect its longevity, so nobody's been in a rush to do that without government regulations forcing them to.
That said, if you are using an incandescent bulb primarily as a heater, then you may have something of a problem now. Which is why (as I understand it) some of them are now being labeled and sold as "heaters", not bulbs, which allows them to bypass the new requirements. |
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 Gavin
join:2012-10-03
canada | reply to mob
LED lightbulbs are helpful to save energy. Also these bulbs light not effects on eyes. So, you can use LED lightbulbs everywhere in your house. |
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 Dude111An Awesome DudePremium
join:2003-08-04
USA
kudos:11 | reply to rfhar
I hate LEDs,they look aweful compared to traditional lighting!! |
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SparkChaserPremium
join:2000-06-06
Downingtown, PA
kudos:3 Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| said by Dude111:I hate LEDs,they look aweful compared to traditional lighting!!
You can hardly tell the difference.
Maybe you mean a candle  |
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PSWired
join:2006-03-26
Annapolis, MD | reply to mob
Re: LED lightbulbs I have a few of the Philips remote phosphor bulbs. Overall they're pretty good. I do notice the light quality isn't as good as an incandescent when they're dimmed.
Also have a couple of the Philips GU10 base "halogen reflector" style bulbs. Very good, and planning to get a few more to use with some new recessed lighting fixtures I'll be putting in. |
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| reply to DarkLogix
said by DarkLogix:said by fifty nine:said by cableties:I've been very happy with mine. I have the phillips one pictured, in a lamp and no one knew it was LED.
The lighting displays at Home Depot here have three bulbs - "incandescent" and two shades of CFL. Problem is that "incandescent" is actually a philips LED but it's not obvious unless you look below. False advertising? Sounds like the store people wanted to save money on the power for the display. At the home depot in baytown I looked and it was a incandescent (ie no tricks there) Thing is, nobody can tell the difference unless they listen to the radio. |
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Tig
join:2006-06-29
Carrying Place, ON Reviews:
 ·voip.ms
 ·TekSavvy DSL
| reply to mob
I brought some LED bulbs back from a trip south. We love them. Beautiful light.
I plan on adding more but I can't find what I want up here for a price that I can stomach.
FWIW, I bought my first half dozen CFLs in 1990. I remember a couple got smashed and one died. The rest were still going in the basement when we sold the house in 08. |
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| reply to mob
I'm using LED bulbs on my house too. They are economic but I'm curious to see how long they will last. |
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 DraimanLet me see those devil horns in the sky
join:2012-06-01
Kill Devil Hills, NC
·Verizon FiOS
| reply to mob
We use a combination of CFL, LED, and incandescent in our house. The high use lights are LED, all other lights are CFL unless the warm-up period would make them ineffective like outside lights that turn on and off via motion when it's cold out. We've got CFL's that are almost 10 years old that still work. I've found a very low burn out rate on CFL's over the last decade. Of the dozen LED's we have one has stopped working after 6-8 months but I took it back and got a new one since they have a 2 year warranty.
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IF YOU FIND ANY MISTAKES IN MY WORK...Please consider that they are there for a purpose. I try to please everyone and there is always someone looking for mistakes! |
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 mobOn the next level..Premium
join:2000-10-07
·SureWest Internet
| reply to rfhar
said by rfhar:I am interested in how long they will last. I have some fixtures where CFL's only last about a year instead of the seven they advertise.
So it's not just me! So far I have had 2 fail so far out of a pack of GE CFL bulbs I got at Sams Club in late 2011/early 2012. |
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DraimanLet me see those devil horns in the sky
join:2012-06-01
Kill Devil Hills, NC Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| reply to mob
I buy the cheapest CFL's I can find. I put them upside down in enclosed spaces against the warnings. I put them in damp locations against the warnings. I abuse them pretty often but they last a decade on average for me.
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IF YOU FIND ANY MISTAKES IN MY WORK...Please consider that they are there for a purpose. I try to please everyone and there is always someone looking for mistakes! |
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| reply to SparkChaser
Re: said by SparkChaser:said by Dude111:I hate LEDs,they look aweful compared to traditional lighting!!
You can hardly tell the difference. Maybe you mean a candle Stop feeding it!
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Splat |
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 Jack_in_VAPremium
join:2007-11-26
Mathews, VA
kudos:1 | reply to Draiman
Re: LED lightbulbs said by Draiman:I buy the cheapest CFL's I can find. I put them upside down in enclosed spaces against the warnings. I put them in damp locations against the warnings. I abuse them pretty often but they last a decade on average for me.
Same with me. I have some in 2-bulb enclosed ceiling fixtures, damp locations etc. I've only had one fail and that one was in a portable metal reflector fixture.
The plus is they are cheap and work well for me. |
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DraimanLet me see those devil horns in the sky
join:2012-06-01
Kill Devil Hills, NC | reply to mob
The CFL's that seem to fail for me are the dimmable ones but I still get 5-8 years out of them. |
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